Grüner Veltliner is a new wine to most of the American wine-drinking public, but its popularity is quickly growing.

Grüner Veltliner is a peppery, dry white wine from Austria that is known for its flavors of lemons, limes and grapefruit. The wine pairs well with almost anything you would ever choose to eat, which has helped make the wine incredibly popular. On top of this, Grüner Veltliner, along with Chardonnay and Riesling, is one of the rare white wines that is incredibly age-worthy.

While the wine has been drunk in Austria for decades, it did not take off on the international market until 2002, when Jancis Robinson helped popularize it.

The wine is the most popular in Austria, and accounts for over 30 percent of all the wine the country produces. In neighboring Slovakia, it accounts for a fifth the country’s wine production. In recent years, US wine regions have also begun to cultivate the grape, including the Finger Lakes region of New York State, and even New Jersey! That said, the best Grüner Veltliners still come from Austria.

It is believed by Grüner Veltliner’s strongest champions that the wine was first drunk during the Roman Empire, with many claiming it was born in Northern Italy. However, scientists have been unable to prove this connection, having only been able to trace the grape’s lineage to Austria. But it’s a romantic idea that the grape could be so old and yet so unknown by the majority of the world until recently.

The vineyards of Austria produce the world's best Grüner VeltlinersThe vineyards of Austria still produce the world’s best Grüner Veltliners.

While the wine has been drunk in Austria for decades, it did not take off on the international market until 2002. In 2002, Jancis Robinson, having just traveled to Vienna where she was blown away by the wine, staged a blind tasting of Grüner Veltliner against some of the top white wines in the world, including the top White Burgundies from France and Chardonnays from California. The result of the tasting was a clear victory for Grüner Veltliner, and the wine world quickly began to sing the grape’s praises.

This contest was the marketing gimmick Grüner Veltliner needed; after that, the wine began to appear on wine lists and in wine shops across the globe.

Grüner Veltliner is considered one of, it not the best, white wine for drinking with food, which is why it’s become so popular. It’s an easy white wine for almost everyone to love, making it a great choice whenever you’re hosting company.